Page 24 of Letting it Ride

Except that I’m a big fat hypocrite, I realize. I was looking at her ass, like some creepy old dude. I don’t have a leg to stand on here.

I’m not prepared to deal with the thoughts that are swirling in my mind as I try to forget just how nice her ass looked, how attracted to her I am. How does one explain to their best friend’s sister that they’re even having dirty thoughts like that? I can’t admit this to Addie.

She’s a sweet girl. She’s too innocent, too good—tooeverythingfor me. I can’t put her in that position. And God, if Maddox knew I was thinking like this about Addison? I can only imagine his reaction.

I need some distance. We may be trapped on a ship, but this place is huge. There are plenty of spots I can go where I won’t be tempted to do something we’ll both regret.

We’ll deal with the shared room when we get there. I’m not sure I can fake sleep every night.

I follow signs to the running track on the upper deck. It’s pretty long, wrapping around the pool and some other areas, close enough to the side of the ship on one side that I have a great view of the ocean. I stretch my arm across my chest, feeling the tightness in my back start to loosen as the warm air brushes my face, already humid and almost sticky. A sign lists the distance and states that three laps will equal a mile. I do some math in my head, trying to figure out how many laps I want to do, then give up with a shrug.

I’ll simply run however many laps it takes to forget how long I was staring at Addie’s ass. I just need to focus on something other than the one thing I know I shouldn’t.

I do a few stretches to warm up before breaking into a light jog for my first lap. As my muscles warm up, I pick up the speed. When I push the pacefaster, the breeze is more noticeable, the mugginess mixing with my sweat. My calves start to protest, but I’m not done yet.

I’m not sure how far I’ve gone when Harper waves at me from the other side of the track. I should be happy to see her, right? That’s generally the reaction when you see someone you’re considering hooking up with. Not this pervading sense of mild annoyance.

Even with the light wind, perspiration is dripping down my back and making my shirt stick to my skin. I peel it off, dropping it on the ground in a sweaty pile as I wave and jog the rest of the lap more slowly, trying to catch my breath as I get closer to her.

“Hey, Cam,” Harper says when I get within earshot, a flirty smile playing on her lips. “How’s your day going?” She’s wearing a pair of leggings and a tank top with the crew logo on it, the entire outfit hugging her trim body perfectly.

I slow to a stop next to her, breathing hard. “Good so far. Just getting my workout in.”

Harper nods, doing nothing to hide her gaze as it travels down my shirtless chest. “Very nice,” she says.

I can’t tell if she’s referring to me working out, or if that’s her appraisal of my pecs. Or both. I choose to ignore it rather than dwell on being appraised like a piece of meat.

“What does your day look like?” I ask, stretching. I’m mildly curious what she does around here all day. Outside of hitting on the guests, which is all I’ve really seen her do so far.

She flips her long ponytail over her shoulder. “Mostly supervising, making sure programs are running the way they should. It’s actually not too time-consuming. I don’t have anywhere I need to be at a specific time.” She steps closer to me. “Sometimes I slip away. No one ever misses me.”

Jesus, this woman is about as subtle as a freight train. It’s more of a turnoff than anything, for some reason. I fight back the urge to grimace.

“That so?” I raise my eyebrows. Part of me doesn’t want to encourage her. I’ve never been one to go for the girls that put it all out there and make it easy. There’s something about the chase, I think.

But… I told the guys I’d look for a rebound to get over Ellie, right? And I’m not really in a position to turn down a good option for a rebound, especially one with no strings attached.

Look, I know I sound like a dick right now. Or maybe it’s all in my head, but I feel like a jerk for thinking about it like this. I’ve never been into one-night stands or hookups. It’s just not me. I’m a long-term guy, or I was at one point. But the only womanI’ve been with in two years is pregnant with another man’s kid.

Maybe I’ve earned the opportunity to hook up without any strings attached. Just this once.

Harper looks down at her Apple watch. “Yeah. Actually, I have some time now. Mind if I walk with you? Or do you need to get back to running?”

I give my leg an experimental stretch. My mind has done the opposite of clearing out thoughts of Addie, despite the fact that I’ve run so far that my quads are already sore. The stretch pulls a sharp pain from my left quad as it protests the idea of even another mile. “Walking is fine. I was just getting to my cool down.”

That I wanted to do alone, in silence, but I can’t bring myself to say that.

With that, we make our way around the track. After running as hard as I did, it feels as slow as an evening stroll, but we’re probably walking at a reasonable pace. We pass the one other couple on the track.

I still can’t get the vision of Addie’s perfect round ass out of my mind. At this point, I’m not sure any number of miles will.

Harper and I make it about halfway around the track in silence before it becomes uncomfortable, and I start asking questions to break the tension.

“So, Harper. We didn’t get to talk much last night.I know you’re from California and you’ve been working on the ship for a couple of years. What else should I know about you?” I’ve never had to deal with finding a rebound. Do you go into personal details like this? How much do you need to know about someone that you’re considering for this short-lived role in your life?

She tilts her head to the side, a few strands of hair escaping her ponytail to frame her face. “There’s not a ton to know, I guess. I’m thirty-three. Divorced, no kids. Loving this single life for now. You?”

“Thirty-four. Never been married. No kids.” My heart twists at that.

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